Daemons
There are many type of Daemons in the Known World and not all of them serve the gods of Chaos. Every deity has some supernatural servants and the term 'Daemon' - a being not of the world - is applied to all of them, regardless of their alignment. As might be expected, the forms and powers of Daemons are so varied that is virtually impossible to cover them all. Daemons are the servants of various deities and do not belong to the material world. As such, they are subject to the same rules regarding instability as are undead creatures. Daemonic creatures always behave in a very absolute manner. They know what they have to do and take any measures necessary in order to do it. A Daemon will never go against its own deity and will always attempt to carry out its orders to the best of its ability. For each of the gods of Chaos, you will find details of one Greater Daemon, one Lesser Daemon, and two Daemonic Servants or Creatures. You might like to devise new Daemons of your own using the guidelines presented here. Types Of Daemons There are three broad categories of Daemon presented here: Greater Daemons, Lesser Daemons, and Daemonic Servants (or Creatures). Each have their own powers, limitations, and purposes in serving their only master - their god of Chaos. Greater Daemons are the mightiest of a Chaos god's followers and are rightly feared as such. They are second only to their Chaos god in power and have authority over all the other Daemons that serve the same god. They are haughty, arrogant, and malicious to a point beyond mortal comprehension. The Lesser Daemons of a Chaos god are smaller and, by comparison, weaker beings. They are the most common type of Daemon in the service of a god and form the rank-and-file of every daemonic army. They too are malicious, though their malice is of a petty order when compared to that of a Greater Daemon. Daemonic Servants or Creatures are the lowest type of Daemon and the least intelligent of the daemonic creatures presented here. As a group, they are further divided into Steeds and Hunting Beasts and are often used as riding animals, messengers, hunting 'dogs', and for similar tasks. Daemonic Servants are often granted to other Daemons and, occasionally, a god's more powerful followers. Three other types of Daemons are dealt with here: Daemon Princes, Daemonic Familiars, and Independent Daemons. Daemon Princes are among the most varied and powerful of a god's servants. They are all former Champions Of Chaos who have been 'elevated' to the status of Daemons by the patron Chaos Power. The powers and appearances of Daemon Princes vary considerably, a legacy of the rewards and attributes the Prince accumulated during his mortal life. While their malice is acquired rather than natural, it is every bit as great as that of any other Daemon. Daemon Princes can also create their own hierarchies of power by sponsoring Champions of Chaos to Daemonhood. Daemonic Familiars are the smallest and weakest of daemonic creatures and are usually servants to powerful magicians. They can be granted as permanent servants to the mortal followers of some Chaos gods and need not be summoned anew each time they are required. Independent Daemons are not the servants of any one Chaos god, but are their own masters. They may, however, join forces with the Daemons of a particular god, if this suits their plans. Of all the Daemons in the Known World, these are the most unpredictable and, consequently, often the most dangerous. They range in power from little more than Lesser Daemons to Greater Daemons and possibly beyond. Daemons And Magic Spells: Some Daemons have th ability to use magic. The Daemon's description includes all details of the spells that it can cast, along with any other special rules and conditions that apply. Daemonic Servants may not cast spells. Magical Items: Details of any magic items that may be in a Daemon's possession are given in their descriptions. Daemons And Spells Each of the Chaos gods (except Khorne) has four associated spells, one for each level. These spells are always the first spells gained at each level. The other spells of a relevant level are determined randomly. Daemons are not constrained by the same limits as mortal spellcasters. Daemons can cast any spell they wish, providing that they know the spell. Spell Pools The spells that a Daemon knows are determined randomly at the start of each battle or when the Daemon is summoned. The exact spell of a particular level is randomly determined, using the table below. As spells are cast, they are removed from the pool, and a new replacement spell is randomly determined. This is added to the list of available spells and may be cast during the next turn in the same manner as any other spell in the pool. Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes have a pool of spells equal to the associated god's number. Lesser Daemons receive one first level spell each. Greater Daemons And Spells Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes have individual pools of spells available. For each spell in the Daemon's spell pool roll a D4 to generate its magic level. The first spell of any generated level in the pool is always the special spell associated with the Greater Daemon's Chaos god. For a Keeper of Secrets, for example, the first spell of magic level 3 in the pool is Beam Of Slaanesh. Other spells of the same level are determined randomly. When a Daemon casts a spell it is replaced by a new, randomly determined spell. A D4 is rolled to determine the level of the replacement spell. If the Chaos Power's spell of the determined level is not in the Daemon's spell pool, roll a D6; on a result of 1, 2 or 3, the Greater Daemon receives that spell. On any other result, randomly generate another spell of the appropriate level. Duplicate spells may be re-rolled or a spell may be chosen. Daemon Princes And Spells A Champion of Chaos who becomes a Daemon Prince gains the magical abilities of a Greater Daemon of his Chaos Power. Any spellcasting abilities that the Champion had are lost regardless of how powerful a magician the Champion was, and the new Daemon Prince gains a pool of spells, identical in all respects to that of a Greater Daemon of the appropriate Power. Lesser Daemons And Spells Lesser Daemons act as individuals for the most part. At the GM's discretion, they can be treated as having individual spell pools or, where groups appear, as having a joint pool of spells to draw upon. In such a case, each Lesser Daemon is allocated one or more spells which are amalgamated to form a single pool for their entire unit. One spell in the pool at the start of a battle (or when the Daemons are summoned) is always the level 1 spell of the Daemons' patron god. Cast spells are deleted from the available spells in the pool, and are replaced by a randomly determined spell. If the level 1 spell of the Lesser Daemons' Chaos god is not currently in the spell pool, roll a D6; on a result of 1 or 2, the pool receives that spell. At the start of the battle, there is one spell in the pool for each Daemon. When a Lesser Daemon is removed as a casualty, the number of spells currently in the pool is not reduced. However, when a spell is cast, a replacement may only be determined if the number of spells is less than the number of remaining Lesser Daemons in the pool. The 'extra' spells are not lost, but are never replaced by new randomly determined spells. The size of the unit determines, if only indirectly, the maximum number of spells in the unit's spell pool. The 'Slain' Daemon When a Daemon is 'killed' in the material world, it is not truly destroyed, but banished to the void, where it must remain for 1000 years and a day. The Daemon vanishes immediately, together with all its equipment, unless the gamesmaster rules that it deliberately leaves one or more items behind. The loss of face involved in 'dying' is considerable and the Daemon is forced to endure the mockery of its fellows until it can avenge itself. It will call upon any servants and tributary Lesser Daemons to help it with its revenge and pact-allies will co-operate in any scheme of vengeance. When it is completely healed, the Daemon is able to return to the material world and take its revenge in person. Daemonic Abilities All Daemons are subject to restrictions and special rules. The following apply to all Daemons and Daemonic Servants: 1. Invulverability To Normal Weapons Daemons cannot be harmed except by magic weapon attacks. All magical weapons and spells have full effect. Daemons can be harmed by attacks from other daemonic and Chaos creatures and elementals (Daemons and Chaos creatures are made of the same stuff of Chaos). They can also be harmed by ethereal creatures. 2. Magical Attacks All a Daemon's attacks are magical, regardless of any weapon it wields. A Daemon's attacks have full effect against any creatures which can only be affected by magical weapons, such as ethereal creatures and other Daemons. 3. Instability Daemons are subject to instability. 4. Psychology Daemons are not normal living creatures. They are subject only to psychological effects caused by a higher ranking Daemon or a deity. Daemons can ignore the psychological effects of their equal or lower ranked fellows. Greater Daemons only suffer psychologial effects caused by gods. Lesser Daemons only suffer psychological effects caused by a god and/or any and every Greater Daemon. Daemonic Servants (Steeds and Creatures) only suffer psychological effects caused by gods and Greater and Lesser Daemons. 5. Spell Casting Some Daemons have the ability to cast spells, as given in the relevant description. A Daemon which can use magic does so without expending magic points and always succeeds in casting the intended spell. 6. Flying Some Daemons have wings and the ability to fly, as given in its description. Daemons fly as swoopers. 7. Chaos Attributes Daemons may have a number of Chaos attributes equal to their patron Chaos god's associated number. Thus, a Daemon of Slaanesh may have up to six attributes and a Daemon of Khorne eight. A Daemon need not have the maximum number of attributes or any at all. You can decide how many attributes it has. However, once a result has been generated using the table, it must be applied, whether favourable or not. Attributes may be retained or determined afresh on each appearance of the Daemon. 8. Fear And Terror All Daemons cause fear (or terror) to a greater or lesser degree, as stated in their descriptions. Daemon Names Virtually all Daemons take great care to keep their true names a secret. Only the most powerful Arch Daemons, who need not fear domination by any other creature, do not bother to hide their true names. Therefore, by definition, a Daemon who does not hide its true name is powerful enough to ignore any summoning or strictures placed upon it. The true name of a Daemon is often completely alien and very nearly unpronounceable. Knowledge of a true name grants power, and gives some leverage when it comes to dealing with a Daemon. As a consequence, a Daemon will never voluntarily reveal its true name, nor can it be commanded to do so except on pain of utter and total destruction. Most Daemons will, however, reveal the true name of another Daemon, providing that it knows any names (but it may lie about this and 'make some up'), the name in question belongs to a Daemon that is weaker than it is, and a suitable reward for this service is offered. At the very least, this reward will be release from any binding or summoning. Other sources of Daemon's names are books and tomes of daemonological lore or the notes of a Daemonologist. All these will be written in obscure and coded ways to keep such knowledge away from the foolish, unwise or weak. Not knowing a Daemon's true name gives a -25% penalty to the chance of controlling it. In addition to being written in Arcane Language: Daemonic, correctly puzzling out names that are present in a text also requires an Int test. The GM should make this test in secret. Success means that the name has been correctly deciphered; failure indicates that the character has translated the name wrongly, has mistaken an inflection or otherwise made an error. A Daemon will still answer to this 'wrong' name but will not, of course, bother to correct its summoner. The mistranslated name grants no benefit to the character in dealing with the Daemon. As a result of keeping their true names secret, Daemons use a number of false names and titles. These vary for a single Daemon, according to mood or circumstance: Pinchbottle, Maeltranseer, The Inescapable Defiler of the Way, The Silent Enemy or whatever. Daemons will apply such 'use-names' to themselves as they think fit or as amuses them. Daemons with the power to change shape are not above such elementary practical jokes as changing their names to match their latest form. Such use-names are not important to a Daemon, as they give no benefit to anyone who knows them. The use-names of a Daemon will often reflect its nature. The Bloodletters of Khorne, for example, have use-names such as Fluxgore, Skullsucker, The Render of Limbs, The High-handed Slayer of Innocence and the like. On the other hand, the Greater Daemons of Slaanesh have names and titles such as the Puissant Giver of Indescribable Pleasure, Rutwobble, The Lurking Despoiler and The Bringer of Joyous Degredation. Examples of titles are given in the relevant sections for Chaos Daemons, and these can be used as inspiration. The tables below randomly generate individual Daemon names, but we suggest that you use it to generate elements of the name, and then arrange them (with any linkages you like) to give the final name for the Daemon. A Daemon's self-awarded titles are best assigned by you, as these will depend on when and where the Daemon appears. Daemon True Names The number of elements in a Daemon's name depends upon the number associated with the Chaos god it serves. Furthermore, the more powerful the Daemon, the longer its name will be: Once the number of elements has been determined, the following table can be used to randomly generate the parts of the Daemon's true name. Alternatively, you can simply choose the right number of elements from the table. Once the elements have been generated they can be used 'as is' to give a completely random name or, in cases where this looks and feels wrong, re-arranged. Apostrophes (') and other punctuation can be added as you see fit to break the name up and make it slightly more pronounceable. Example: A Greater Daemon of Khorne has eight elements in its personal name, and rolling on the table gives G'G , AR, UL, HL, II, UL, RH and AN. While G'garulhliiulrhan is a perfectly acceptable Daemonic name, in this case they are re-worked (and an apostrophe added) to form the name Rhug'guari'ihlulan, the Bloodthirster of Khorne. Daemon Use-Names Again, Greater Daemons have names that are longer than those of other Daemons. Roll 4 times on the following tables to generate a first and second name for Greater Daemons. Other Daemons and creatures only roll twice, generating only one name. Re-roll any duplicated results. The elements that are rolled up should be put together in pairs to give the name of the Daemon, for example grim + belch 'and '''chaos '+ 'warp '- Grimbelch Chaoswarp. While this table can generate names for any type of Daemon, you may wish to select name elements for some. Daemons of Slaanesh, for instance, do not have names that are suggestive of violence, but ones which reflect their true interests in pleasure and depravity for its own sake: Whiplewd, Suckthigh Bluedangle and Fluxcarnal the Groper. Daemons of Khorne, on the other hand, have names which echo nothing but their love of violence and destruction: Warfiend, Thrashblood Hackflesh and Manblight Gnaw-weapon. Any combination of names can be augmented by ''-er'', ''-ling'', and ''-or'' suffixes, or by the providing that these are applied intelligently. For example, '''rut + sate + (-e)r gives Rutsater, gut + (t)-er + sinew gives Guttersinew, while maggot + spoor + ''-ling'' gives Maggotspoorling. Single or double words from the table can be added as further description for a Daemon, as in plague + vomit + the + drool + ing = Plaguevomit the Drooling. Category:Rules Category:Bestiary Category:Chaos